Preformed deposited brassiere



Oct25, 1955 L A. SPANEL. ETAL PREFORMED DEPOSITED BRASSERE vFiled Aug. 9, 1952 Qmm" INVENTORS.

Lons A SPANEL HAROLD A.OWEN. )BVA RY Ara-rH.

United States Patent O PREFORMED DEPGSITED BRASSIERE Lois A. Spanel, New York, N. Y., Harold A. Owen and Harry J. Barth, Dover, Del., assignors to International Latex Corporation, Dover, Del., a corporation of Delaware Application August 9, 1952, Serial No. 303,502

3 Claims. (Cl. 2-42) This invention relates to brassieres. While many of the functional requirements of brassieres have long been known, the structure for meeting these requirements is complex and has resulted in compromise in many respects. Hence it has been and is common in the different forms and types of brassiercs to make a mosaic garment of pieces of greatly varying characteristics.

We found that an ideal material for use in a brassiere is deposited rubber latex. rThe using public finds deposited latex suitable for other articles of wearing apparel because it is freer from soil, more elastic, easier to wash for immediate re-use, and less expensive for performance than if made by other methods and of other materials. We ascertained, however, that despite the foregoing advantages, a deposited latex brassiere which elastically embraces the body, presents certain problems including girthwise movement of the flesh with an accompanying unpleasing deformation of the breasts and accentuation of the normal movement thereof.

In our concurrently filed application Serial No. 303,501, entitled Preformed Latex Brassieres, we have indicated the desirability of modifying the surface characteristics of the deposited latex film to furnish the brassiere having the proper functional requirements. In the method of modifying the surface characteristics where selected areas are modified, we may employ the process described in the concurrently filed application of Harry J. Barth Serial No. 303,503, entitled Art of Making Preformed Deposited Brassieres.

In the present application we are concerned with a simpler and more economical modification of our brassiere employing a brassiere body of deposited film forming material having stretch inhibiting characteristics compared to natural rubber latex, while fulfilling the need for the varying functional requirements of a deposited brassiere. v

Accordingly, an object of our present invention consists in providing a brassiere of deposited film forming material having means for upholding the breasts in desired position. v

A further object consists in providing a deposited brassiere of film forming material provided with means for limiting the normal movement of the breasts.

Another object is to provide a brassiere having at least its front panel and cups unitarily preformed of deposited film forming material and of a relatively thin wall.

Another object consists in providing a seamless deposited brassiere having areas conforming to the diverse requirements.

Another object consists in providing a deposited brassiere wherein the areas of diverse requirements may be provided in the dipping process.

A further object is to provide a brassiere having the desirable functional requirements while free of the undesirable features referred to above.

Still another object consists in providing a brassiere meeting the foregoing diverse requirements having a uniform thickness throughout the brassiere body.

ice

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will more clearly appear from the detailed de* scription given below taken in connection with the accom panying drawings which form a part of the specification and in which:

Fig. l is a perspective View of a brassiere the body of which is made in accordance with our invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the brassiere taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, showing its laminated construction;

Fig. 3 is a similar view of a modification showing its homogeneous nature.

In the drawing, Fig. 1, we have illustrated a brassiere 10 having breast portions such as 11, connecting side portions 12 and 13, and a back portion 14. The breast portions contain preformed cups 1S and 16, and are supported by shoulder straps 17 and 18 of material having a reduced stretch, such as nylon, by stitching to reinforced patches 19 and 20 in the front and connecting side portions respectively. The straps are adjustable by means of buckles 21. These and other details of construction are described with greater particularity in the aforesaid application of Harry l. Barth.

The brassiere body is deposited upon a suitable form as is disclosed in said Barth application, 'employing as an example a rubber latex compound of the character described in a concurrently filed application of Harry I. Barth Serial No. 303,504, entitled Deposited Latex Brassiere.

After the initial dip in said latex having regular elas tic characteristics, we dip the form carrying the initial film in a latex compound having a higher modulus of elasticity, the following being an example of such cornpound.

Parts dry weight 1A trade name (of Naugatuck Chemical Co.) for high styrene synthetic latex comprising about styrene and 15% butadiene. Another high styrene synthetic latex of similar properties is sold under` the trade name of Pliolite (Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company).

The potassium hydroxide is added in about 20% water solution and the sulfur, zinc oxide, and tetramethyl thiuram disulfide are added in conventional water dispersions well known in the art.

It should be understood that other methods of preparing a high modulus film can be used, such as the incorporation of about 20 pts. colloidal silica (e. g., Ludox as marketed by the Du Pont Company), or 15 pts. of a suitable water compatible formaldehyde resin such as urea-formaldehyde in place of the Kralac latex given in the formula above.

The second or higher modulus lm is followed by dipping in the rubber latex of lower modulus.

The laminated construction described above is illustrated in Fig. 2, the initial dip being designated as 25, the intermediate dip of higher modulus material as 26, and the final dip as 27. The reinforcing bead 22, may be formed in the position shown.

The thickness of the various films may vary for various sizes and types of breasts it is desired to support.

We have found, for example, in a brassiere of endless construction size 34B intended for the average person in that size, that a girthwise tension of 2.65 pounds is satisfactory. We have further determined that the breast sections should have a limited stretch and in our standard example, a stretch of 18% was found satisfactory as measured in the central front lower margin, while in the back portion the stretch for the specific example was 60%. In order to obtain these varying characteristics in our brassiere we found that in the laminae structure, specifically illustrated in Fig. 2 in cross-section, the initially deposited layer of low modulus rubber latex may be .003 Vin thickness, the higher modulus material .006" in thickness, and the final deposited low modulus material .008 in thickness, Since the thickness is uniform throughout the deposited film, the relationship of the remaining dimension, i. e., the effective width of the breast and back portions, may be in the inverse relationship of desired ratio of the stretch. Accordingly, for the present example the effective width of the brassiere in the front center may be roughly three times the effective width of the back connecting portion, assuming the material and thickness of both to be identical, for the specific size and type here discussed. This iS given by way of example and is not intended to be a limitation to our invention.

The diverse functional requirements can also be obtained by employing a homogeneous material uniformly distributed throughout in place of the laminated construction previously described. Such a material may, for example, be an intermediate modulus material as follows:

Parts by weight In the foregoing modification we may deposit the homogeneous lm 28 to a thickness of say .020". This is illustrated in Fig. 3, where a suitable reinforcing bead 23 is provided on the brassiere 10a.

In the above formulation it will be noted that increasing the percentage of Kralac will increase the over-all modulus tending towards a condition where pliability becomes reduced and noticeably undesirable. Conversely, reducing the percentage will decrease the modulus, necssitating an increase in thickness to obtain suitable characteristics until the point of suitability is reached.

While we have shown a method of producing the diverse functional requirements in breast portions and elsewhere while maintaining a uniform thickness, by reducing the width, we may employ instead, increased widths compensated for by slits extending transverse the girthwise extent of the brassiere which will reduce the net effective area of stretchable material, causing an increased stretch for given girthwise tension.

In general, it is our desire to obtain the needed restrained or limited stretch in the breast portions found necessary to avoid distortion of the breasts while affording the unusual comfort brought about in the dipped brassiere by having a controlled elasticity throughout the entire garment.

In the course of selecting suitable materials for accomplishing our desired results we have found it most advantageous to use thermosetting materials, similar in Cit function to those given in our examples, which after setting are relatively undisturbed by body temperatures.

In the foregoing constructions the marginal areas of the breast portions, i. e., the portions outside the cups, are provided with limited stretch characteristics without loss of over-all elasticity and transmit the principal girthwise stresses with a calculated stretch which will not flatten the cups nor distort the supported breasts in an unpleasing manner. This is accomplished without loss of the elasticity needed to give the brassiere the required over-all elastic conformation lforming part of ourinvention.

In the foregoing description we have illustrated a seamless preformed brassiere made of film forming thermosetting materials.

The breast portions of our brassiere are non-binding, exceptionally comfortable, and furnish the support and conformation essential to satisfactory performance.

While the invention has been described herein with reference to several embodiments, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other modifications may be made without departing Yfrom the spirit of the invention or scope of the appended claims. Also, it will be understood that the drawings appended hereto are for purposes of illustration only and that dimensions therein shown are merely for purposes of illustration, and not necessarily the actual dimensions employed in practice.

What we claim is:

l. A brassiere adapted to elastically shape and conform to the female body without binding comprising a continuous elastic film of deposited latex providing breast supporting portions and a body encircling band, said breast supporting portions each having an outwardly extending preformed cup, said film having a uniform thickness throughout, the effective width of the brassiere in the front center being several times the effective width of the back connecting portion of the body circling band, so that, when the brassiere is stretched, the breast cups are maintained relatively unflattened and in approximately the same relative position and the majority of the elongation occurs in the back.

2. A brassiere according to claim 1 wherein said film comprises natural rubber and a synthetic rubber having a modulus of elasticity higher than natural rubber.

3. A brassiere according to claim 1 wherein said lrn is composed of layers of uniform thickness, the materials in said layers having different moduli of elasticity.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,218,414 Klass Mar. 6, 1917 1,492,953 Bender May 6, 1924 2,324,735 Spanel (I) July 20, 1943 2,360,736 Spanel (II) Oct. 17, 1944 2,428,127 Sidnell Sept. 30, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS 538,935 Great Britain Aug. 21, 1940 

